1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices used for marking and cutting tiles that are resized to fit large boundary areas occurring on floors walls and counter tops.
2. Description of the Related Art
Individuals installing tiles on a surface such as a floor are regularly challenged with the cutting of particular tiles to conform to a space between the penultimate rows of tiles and a boundary surface where the particular tile (herein referred to as “edge tile”) needs to be installed. The commonly accepted method used for preparing such tiles consists of two steps: First, manual measurements are taken of the dimensions of the surface where the tile is to be installed. Second, the measurements are transferred onto a conventional tile, which is then cut. The time required for taking and transferring these measurement onto the tile is usually considerably long, and is a major drawback of this method.
A variety of systems and methods have been developed over the years for marking and cutting edge tiles, but usually these systems are big in size and complex in their usage. More importantly, none of the devices available today are hand-held and specifically designed for etching ceramic files. Etching of ceramic tiles is desirable considering that the etch markings can serve as the line of fracture of the tile when the tile is broken. The only invention that utilizes an etching means is the patent to M. Crain (U.S. Pat. No. 2,619,173), which describes a device that is bulky, relatively expensive to manufacture and not suited for operating with one hand. Furthermore, it is complicated in usage, limited to areas larger than the width of the device and requires re-tightening of the knobs with each new tile. As with the patent to R. Julien (U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,090), the device components must cooperate in a complex manner to adjust for moving along a slanted wall thus rendering the device susceptible to imprecision due to friction at many junctions in the device. Furthermore, this device is only capable of marking a tile, rather than etching it. Similarly the J. Di Candilo patent (U.S. Pat. No. 3,548,505) is limited not only to marking but also to the size of plates used, since each size of file requires another sized plate.
Many devices previously invented are only capable of acquiring a measurement, which is to be transferred onto the tile in a separate step. Examples of such devices are the D. Armstrong patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,490) and the Le Moal patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,625). Other inventions such as the D. Squires patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,439) are not designed for ceramic tiles and the blade moves during cutting rather than the whole device. Furthermore, the blade can only cut from the top of the tile and thus cannot be applied to ceramic tiles. This is due to the fact that ceramic tiles must be bottom side up when markings are made to correctly match the boundary surface after cutting. For the reasons mentioned above existing devices in today's market are neither efficient nor practical and are rarely used by a present-day professional tile-man.
The system and the methods of the present invention are particularly useful for enabling efficient and practical tile markings. In the first embodiment previously discussed, the present invention is similar to conventional pliers in size and weight. This invention is practical and timesaving since it does not require any assembly and it is safely used by one hand to etch and mark a tile, to a precise measurement in a convenient manner. Furthermore, the current invention can be used for different tile sizes and it is adjustable to provide different ground space between the edge tiles and other adjacent tiles.
In the second embodiment, this invention is a pocket sized, lightweight device resembling a pen and can be used by one hand to provide the same results as complex devices exist today on the market. Practicality and efficiency of this device is derived from fact that the tile is flipped upside down and the actual marking is done on the bottom side for a perfect match. The method of flipping the tile upside down and marking it is exclusively used by this invention.
Therefore, the present invention provides a highly effective means for providing a simpler, more efficient and very practical, procedure for edge tile marking (and subsequent cutting) without sacrificing any precision, accuracy or safety. The inventions disclosed herein satisfy these and other needs. Still further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.